It has been almost one year since the shooting at Club Q, and MOSAIC and the Kraemer Family Library are seeking proposals for art pieces that will serve as a memorial for the campus community.
According to the website for this memorial contest, students, faculty, alumni and anyone with a connection to UCCS and to the LGBTQ+ community have until Dec. 4 to submit a proposal for one of two memorial art pieces. The submission form can be found on the website.
The form requires artists to answer some essay questions and provide their personal information, a reference, an artist statement, some of their past work and an initial design for their art piece.
Each artist whose piece is selected will receive $2,000, which will account for the cost of materials, and their art will be displayed on either the second-floor apse of the library or across from the MOSAIC lounge in the University Center. Artists may only submit one piece, and it must be in line with all building and ADA codes.
Rafael Norwood, who is the LGBTQ+ coordinator for MOSAIC, said that artists have a lot of creative freedom when it comes to their submissions.
“We really want it to be open in terms of creativity, so it could look like a mural, it could look like an installation of some sort,” he said. “We want to be open, but it has to be compliant, of course, with UCCS policy.”
The selected artists will need to have their pieces completed by the spring. Norwood noted that faculty from the VAPA department are helping with this project and can provide the artists with feedback throughout the creative process.
Norwood said that both he and Joseph Bono, the student assistant program manager and a library technician, want to make what happened at Club Q a significant and remembered as a part of Colorado Springs LGBTQ+ history.
“We want these pieces to be a reminder that this is, in fact, the reality of the lives of the LGBTQ community face on a daily basis, and we need to make sure that we make a commitment to strive for better,” he said.
According to Norwood, he and Bono are very passionate about this project and supporting a community they are proud members of. Norwood noted that it took collaboration with and support from UCCS’ LGBTQ+ clubs and several local organizations to make this project happen.
The pieces will not be revealed until Pride Week in April, but there will be a gathering to mark one year since the events at Club Q on Nov. 19 from noon to 2 p.m. Those interested in attending need to register on Mountain Lion Connect and will receive more information once they do so.
Anyone who has questions about the event or submitting their art can email [email protected] or [email protected].
One of the selected art pieces will be displayed here on the second floor of the Kramer Family Library. Photo by Lillian Davis.